A Mourning Willow
by HKSuspect
Summary: MalonLink. Malon's life has been truly miserable since her father left, and now that he's dead, what will become of her? R&R.
1. The Beginning

A/N: This is my first fic on this site. Please R&R. There will be many more chapters to come if there is good feedbback.  
  
ÒA Mourning WillowÓ  
  
Link was awoken by some weird sounding music. Puzzled, he sat up in his bed, provided by the Inn in Karariko village that he was currently staying in. It was almost noon, and he was having a peaceful sleep until someone had interrupted him. Gah, what was that un-godly music and why was it playing?! He lept from his bed and nearly ripped down the blinds on the window to peer outside.   
  
A funeral. He had seen many in the recent days, yet this one somehow seemed different. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and trudged out of his room to see what exactly was going on.   
  
It was dark outside, as if it were dusk. Rain clouds were rolling in from the East; there was bound to be showers in the next day or so. Link watched the townspeople carry a casket slowly throughout the village, and he joined in the small crowd that had gathered to watch. ÊÊ "Who's funeral?" he asked a bystander.   
  
"Talon," the elderly woman replied. "You know, that fat lazy farmer from Lon Lon Ranch."   
  
Link could hardly believe what he had heard.   
  
"Do you know what happened?"   
  
"Hades if I know," the old woman replied bitterly.   
  
Link crossed his arms and looked at the ground, walking deeper into the village. He sat upon a stone step leading up to the Windmill and became lost in his ownÊ thoughts. One thing poked at his brain the most- He had a friend who lived on Lon Lon Ranch; Talon had been her father. He wondered what had become of her. A long time ago, before his seven year slumber in the Temple of Time, he had made her a promise that some day he would be back. But he had not been, in fact, Link had completely forgotten.   
  
Link stood up from his seat and headed towards the Kakariko Village Tavern. The bartender who worked there was the number one person to go to in order to find out anything or anyone.   
  
The door to the tavern flew open, and Link sat down at the bar. The bartender turned to look at him. "It's awefully early for you to be drinking yet."   
  
"I don't want a drink," Link stated. "I need you to tell me what you know about Lon Lon Ranch and the people who live there."   
  
The bartender set down the mug he was drying with a rag and grinned a toothless grin at Link. His breat reeked of liquor. "For a price of course."   
  
"Fine," Link said through clenched teeth.   
  
"Well," the bartender started "It used to be a very profitable ranch, run by Talon and Ingo, brothers. Ganondorf changed all of that though. He came to Talon and wanted a horse, like no other, for himself. Talon refused, said he would never serve Ganondorf. As you can imagine, Ganondorf was outraged. Put a curse on Talon so that he could never return to the Ranch."   
  
"So what happened after that?" Link asked intently.   
  
"Ingo now runs it, along with Talon's daughter. Ingo.. is a terrible man."   
  
"What do you mean?" Link questioned.   
  
"Rumor is.. well.. you know.. he doesn't treat his niece too good.."   
  
"What have you heard?" Link asked a little louder than he intended. "What does he do?"   
  
"Come on, kid.. you know.." the bartender trailed off.   
  
"Hits her?"   
  
"Yeah... but.. other stuff too.. agh, I don't want to talk about it anymore." The bartender turned his back to Link, indicating that the conversation was over.   
  
Link couldn't believe what he had just heard. He stood up from the bar and headed out of the tavern.   
  
"Hey kid, where's my money?" he heard the bartender shout just as he let the door slam behind him.   
  
It was raining now, and after just a moment of standing in the rain, Link was completely soaked. He didn't care. He sloshed through the wey grass, making slow progress back to his room at the Inn. Link removed his soaked hat and set it by the fire to dry before sitting down on his bed. ÊÊ His gut told him he had to do something, but what? Link heard a yawn, and turned to see Navi awaking. Link slumped against the wall, staring into the embers of the almost dead fire.   
  
"Link! What's wrong?" the little fairy asked, flying over and sitting on Link's shoulder.   
  
"Malon's in trouble. And we're going to do something about it." 


	2. A Homecoming

A/N: Okay, I got no reviews, but thatÕs understandable because it was so short. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!  
  
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A Mourning Willow  
  
Chapter Two: A Homecoming  
  
Link spent that entire day preparing himself for what he was going to do: get a job at Lon Lon Ranch. That's right, he was going to work as a stable boy to see just how bad things were at the farm. He didn't want Ingo or Malon to know who he was yet.  
  
Link spent the last amount of his small stash of Rupees on clothes, normal Hylian clothes. It felt strange to him, to actually be out of his green Kokiri Tunic. Finally, he took his cap off and ran his hands through his hair several times to make it look different... although those golden locks could never be mistaken for.  
  
"How do I look?" he asked Navi.  
  
"Hmph," she replied. "You look like a normal Hylian."  
  
"That's my goal," Link muttered.  
  
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I'll never forget how badly my hands were blistered that one day, it was probably the worst that they had ever been. They were cracked and bleeding, and I remember suspecting that some of the wounds were becoming infected.  
  
I couldn't remember the last time that I'd eaten anything decent, besides what was left over from Ingo's meals. I felt like a worthless animal, I was a worthless animal. When I was young, I remember only having few people that truly mattered to me. One was my mother, who died when I was six. My father was banished from the ranch by Ganon.  
  
And there was this Kokiri boy who sometimes came around the farm. I remember, he didn't like talking much, but I remember forcing him out of his shy exterior, and soon we were the best of friends. And then one day his visits grew less and less frequent, until one day he just stopped. That was seven years ago.  
  
Anyway, back to that day. I had been repairing the cuccos pen all day, and had driven nails into my hands on numerous occasions; hence all of the wounds on my hands. My mind had wandered, when it happened again. I cried out, and examining the deep wound I could tell I would have to get more bandages.  
  
I headed out to the front of the ranch, when I saw someone coming through the entrance. It was a man. For a minute, I wondered if it was a customer, after all, our Lon Lon Milk was famous throughout all of Hyrule.  
  
"Sir...?" I questioned, walking to him. "I'm sorry, but we won't have any more milk for at least a month."  
  
He smiled lightly. "That's alright, I didn't come for milk," he told me.  
  
His voice was smooth like velvet, but calm and deep. It almost sounded.. familiar.  
  
I knew he could tell that I was confused.  
  
"Is the master of this ranch here?" he asked politely. That was what I remember most about him, how well he treated me after speaking with me all of ten seconds. Believe it or not, that question, that very tone of voice, was the nicest thing I'd heard in the longest time. I wasn't sure why, but it hit me like a ton of bricks.  
  
"I.. um.. let me-"  
  
"MALON!" I heard a man scream. Ingo.  
  
"What are you doing? Who are you talking to?" he yelled as he stormed up to be and snatched me by my arm.  
  
"Th-this man.. wanted to talk to you.." I tried to keep my composure, but he was gripping my arm so hard I thought it would break.  
  
Ingo's attention turned towards the young man, and I couldn't believe what happened next. He loosened my arm and eventually let it go. "Ahh.. Malon, thank you. Get back to the stables... now." It was so strange, but I just figured that Ingo didn't want to seem ruthless to a potential customer.  
  
I started walking back to the stables, but ducked behind some crates and listened, peeking over the top to watch them.  
  
"Sir, yes, I am the master of this ranch. And how might I be of service to you today?"  
  
"I have heard rumor that you are looking for work, a stable boy."  
  
The stranger was right; Ingo had been looking for a new stable boy. In fact there was so much work around the ranch to do, that we were in threat of loosing everything.  
  
Ingo snorted when he heard this. "Stable boy, eh? Five rupees a day. Tell me your name, stranger."  
  
"Link," I heard him say, and he glanced to where I was hiding. Luckily, Ingo didn't notice.  
  
Link, I thought. Where in Din's name have I heard that before..?  
  
"Where do you come from?" Ingo demanded, becoming less and less formal knowing that this young man was going to have a job working under him.  
  
"I.. wha.. where I come from? Why.. from a land.. far from this place."  
  
"The name of this place?" Ingo inquired.  
  
"It's an island.. with a mountain. Simply called, Rock Island. Far, FAR from here.."  
  
Psh, even I could have told that was so fake. Ingo seemed to buy it though.  
  
"Fine, whatever, you can work here. You sleep in the stables. My niece works here as well, Malon. She'll show you what you need." Ingo trudged off inside, letting the door slam behind him.  
  
Again, Link looked over in my direction and held his gaze for a moment before heading off to the stables.  
  
I looked up to the sky, it was nearly dusk, almost time to prepare Ingo's supper. But I had to meet this new stable boy first. I stood, but as I did so, I saw a broken piece of glass. I picked it up and looked into it. I had a fresh bruise on my face, thanks to Ingo. I sighed and threw it back on the ground, then headed for the stables.  
  
I saw him, brushing one of my beloved horses, Epona. How he was able to brush her without her going wild was completely beyond me. I watched him for a moment from behind before I cleared my throat. He abruptly turned around.  
  
"Hi," he said. "You must be Malon."  
  
"Yeah," I replied, letting my hair hang in front of the left side of my face so that the bruise wouldn't be so obvious. "What's your name?" I asked.  
  
"Link, I-" he opened his mouth to say something else, but he was cut off by Ingo's yelling from the house.  
  
"MALON! MY DINNER - NOW!"  
  
Emberassed, I turned away, expecting Link to be somewhat disgusted. But when I looked up at him, he wasn't. He just looked... well, kind.  
  
"I... umm.. better go," I said before turning around and quickly heading off to the house.  
  
"Hey, Malon!" I stopped in my tracks and turned back to face him.  
  
"Yeah?" I asked, almost afraid of what he was going to say.  
  
"Later.. after dinner.. maybe you can.. show me stuff around here."  
  
"Yeah.. sure." I left in a hurry to cook Ingo's dinner.  
  
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A/N: Agh, is ANYONE enjoying this? 


	3. The Mourning Willow

A/N: I keep switching POV's around, I'm not sure on which to stick with though. I do like Malon's though. Another note, PLEASE review. Someone pointed out to me that I had anonymous reviews locked, and I've taken it off. It would mean a lot of you reviewed. =D By the way, if anyone is interested in a Link x Malon RP, e mail me at ShadowMinuet@aol.com Thanks! ------------------------------------------------------ Chapter Three:  
  
The Mourning Willow  
  
The few days after Link had come to work with us on the farm had been much easier. The entire work load wasn't completely dumped on me, and I had to admit, he did make nice company.  
  
Something else had happened though.Ingo hadn't been so agressive since Link's arrival. When Link was around, Ingo's words to me were scarce and very quick. And when Ingo had me cornered alone in the barn or something, about to do only Din knows what, Link would "accidentaly" come in, and Ingo would back off. It was good. I was so thankful to have Link around the ranch.  
  
I still couldn't figure out, however, why he seemed familiar. He seemed to just be a regular Hylian, like me and everyone else who came around the ranch. But still.. something was there.  
  
I remember one night in particular, it was the first night that we'd ever actually had an actual conversation. It was night, and the entire ranch was sleeping. Or so I thought. I remember having a fresh bruise on my face, from Ingo. Apparently his dinner wasn't good enough. The one time throughout the day when Link wasn't with me was when I made Ingo's dinner. And Ingo took full advantage of that.  
  
I was thinking about a lot of things, my dad, Ingo.. and I started to tear up. I was about to break down when I felt someone come up behind me, and in the corner of my eye I saw Link lean on the fence next to me. I jumped, startled, and quickly hid the sad emotion on my face.   
  
"It's a really nice night out," Link said, glancing over to me. I just knew that he could see that I was about to cry, but he chose to say nothing. I was glad, because just talking about it would have made it worse.   
  
"Y-Yeah," I managed, my voice nearly squeaking.   
  
"It's a full moon," Link pointed out. Now my mood was getting better. Something about him made me.. cheer up or something.   
  
I sniffled. "Yeah, you're right." I smiled slightly. I was about to ask him if I knew him from somewhere, but he spoke before I did.   
  
"Look at that tree out on the field," he said. "It looks sad."   
  
"It's a willow tree. And you're right, it does look sad. I call it the mourning willow," I told him.   
  
There was a long lapse of silence before I spoke to him again.   
  
"Have we met before?" I asked, looking over to him for the first time that night. I had to admit, he was gorgeous, in that rugged way.   
  
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "You don't remember me?"   
  
"What? N-No.. should I?" For Din's sake, who was he?   
  
"If you don't remember, you'll just have to figure it out for yourself." He touched my arm gently before heading back into the barn. As I watched him slowly walk back, it hit me like Cucco's egg in the face - it was him!  
  
I tore after him, grabbing him by the arm and forcing him to turn aroud and look at me. I could see he was smiling a bit.  
  
"Do you remember me now?" he asked, his face only inches from mine.   
  
"You're.. the Fairy Boy, from the forest. Din! How could I have forgotten.." I couldn't help what happened next. I hugged him, and I hugged him tight. I thought everyone in this world had left me... but.. he was back, the Fairy Boy was back.   
  
-------------------------------------------- A/N: And that concludes chapter 3. It was a little short but oh well. =D Review please! 


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